As I began my new occupation I started with feelings of excitement as I got to reflect on my past experiences with it. I took pottery classes in highschool and they are some of my fondest memories, not nescarrily because of the instructor or the time spent in class yet due to the actual act of creating. I know that I get great satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment when I use my hands especially if the end result is that I have created something. My grandmother is an artist and has made her entire career by creating with her hands. One of her forms of art throughout her life has been pottery so sharing that with her special and an influence for my want to learn the craft. Moving from my feelings of nostalgia and going into my current experience, I felt as though I was starting from scratch in many ways. Although I have a foundational understanding of the steps and techniques, the fine details that make up so much of creating pieces seems to have evaded me. I began the process by going to the craft shop on campus and getting the supplies/ memberships I would need. I foresee that most of my time spent doing ceramics will be at the craft shop so I have access to the tools needed, however I first chose to bring some clay home and try to get the feel for making things again. There are many techniques specifics such as stopping the clay from cracking around the edges, that I wanted to practice. I went very basic for my first attempt and began with what is called a “pinch pot”. Simply put, the clay is shaped into a ball and pinched from the inside thinner and thinner until a small bowl shape is formed. From here, any number of things can be made but I chose to make two and put them on top of one another to make a hollow ball (clay can only be about ¼ of an inch thick or it will explode when fired). From this amusing hollow ball that I currently have I hope to make a pumpkin in which can be used for upcoming Halloween decor. I would say that overall, my experience with my occupation is positive. Although there was most certainly a gap in where my skill level used to be compared to where it is now that is to be expected and there is only improvement in the future.

Space is something that I had never put much concentrated effort into understanding before. After this weeks reading and learning about the ideas of fluidity and what makes a space a place that occupation can be done in, I had more purposeful thoughts regarding space. The main take away I got from the article “Conceptualizing the Role of Occupation in the Production of Space” by Delaisee, Hout, and Veronis (2020) was that space is a place in which occupation can occur but a meaningful occupation can also creat the need for a new space/place. Delaisse, Hout, and Veronis challenged the idea that space and place are a strong dichotomy and instead posed the proposition that the two are intertwined. The spatial triad that was referenced in the article was an aspect that I considered when beginning my new occupation (Delaisse, Hout, and Veronis pp 552-556 2020). I thought about how each part of the triad could be related to my new hobbie. First there is the conceived space which constitutes the general area that those in power have designated towards the occupation and in this case I thought that would be the craft shop as a whole. Secondly, we have perceived space which is the general understanding of the public that the act of creating things from clay occurs in the craft shop. Finally, the lived space which I thought would be the table at which someone was currently doing ceramics. After thinking about the ideas that were presented in the article my idea of space in relegation to occupation changed in that I had a better understanding of how occupation can play into the meaning behind a space but it can also influence or change the space based on what action is being performed. For example, I did not perform my occupation in the intended space. 

                                                     

Instead of going to the craft shop, this week I chose to get a feel for my new occupation in my living room. Looking back on the lecture from class, and the idea that Hasselkus (2021) describes the idea that a place/space is a container of experience, we can observe how the intended use of my living room was not to practice pottery. Desipite the original intended use, my living room was a container for my experience in doing my occupation. When I was practicing pottery while sitting on my living room floor at my coffee table I considered the idea that my occupation was shaping the space I was in to hold new memory and meaning, thus making it even more into a place. The general idea of this is that a space is an empty container that does not have personal associations, while a place is full of meaning and memories of occupations that have occurred in the area. While my living room is already a place to me in that I do have memories there, by performing my occupation in the areas I created more meaning and the space of my coffee table transformed into a new place. 

References

Delaisse, A., Hout, S., Veronis, L. (2020). Conceptualizing the role of occupation in the production of space.             

    Journal of Occupational Science. 28(4) 550-560. https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2020.1802326

Hasselkus, B. R. (2021). The meaning of everyday occupation (3rd ed.). Thorofare, NJ: Slack.